Buckeyes’ goal:?Become the opponents’ nightmare

September 8, 2013

COLUMBUS - Ohio State freshman Dontre Wilson says he's just one of the guys on the Buckeyes' team when it comes to being fast.

The crowd at Ohio Stadium during OSU's first two games respectfully disagrees.

There has been an audible reaction coming from the stands whenever the speedy freshman has the ball in his hands.

Wilson got his first college touchdown on a 7-yard pitchout from Kenny Guiton in the first quarter against San Diego State on Saturday.

His longest play of the season has been a 51-yard kickoff return against Buffalo in the opener.

But there have been at least two other plays where for just a moment it looked like he was going to take the ball all the way to the end zone before a tackler reached out and grabbed an ankle or caught him around a leg.

The potential for a huge play is always there. And that's why the reaction is there, too.

"Yeah, I hear it. Look at him. He's fast. That's why they like him. Everybody knows he can make big plays," Brown said.

Wilson himself hears it and says it gets him fired up.

"Yeah, I hear it all the time," he said. "It's something that's electrifying and helps me make a play," he said.

Wilson says he thinks about the plays he almost broke the last two weeks "all the time," but realizes he is not in high school anymore.

"It's a very big difference. Everybody is fast. Even the linemen are fast," he said.

Wilson might have already become one of the most popular of Ohio State's offensive threats, but as Saturday's game emphasized, he is far from alone in that category.

Backup quarterback Kenny Guiton was a more than adequate substitute for the injured Braxton Miller, leading the team in rushing and throwing for two touchdowns in a 42-7 win.

Seven different Buckeyes ran the ball and seven caught passes, led by Devin Smith with seven receptions and Brown, who caught both of Guiton's touchdown throws.

With that many options and that kind of depth, the ball doesn't get into a player's hands very often.

In his weekly press conference last Monday, OSU coach Urban Meyer said he was going to make an effort to get the ball in Brown's hands against San Diego State because he was under-used against Buffalo.

"Coach Meyer and I had a talk during the week and he told me he was going to try to get me involved," Brown said.

"We've got a lot of playmakers and young guys who have stepped up. When you have that many guys who can make plays like that, it's good for us.

"It's a good problem to have. It's a defensive coordinator's nightmare and we're happy to be the nightmare."